Self Sustainable living in Ecuador

[ranchhand]

Being young and optimistic is a good thing when setting out for an adventure! I should know, I moved to France on a whim, I lived in Ecuador for over 2 years as a young bride of an Ecuadorian. No longer married, but I am still part of a family there.

Skip the details, worry about money. If you want to do anything at all, you'll have to pay (bribe) the officials from national on down to local level. It may have changed a bit, but from what I understand the palanca sustem is still in place.

It's a beautiful country, you get all 4 seasons in one day. The fruits, vegetables and seafood are amazing, grains are mostly rice but some others are available. Potatoes are a staple.

Be prepared to take care of your own medical needs or health issues.

Be very respectful of the locals. There are still many who think very poorly of foreigners, but won't say it to your face. BUT.... be politely firm. Otherwise you will lose at bartering and negotiating!

Last, but not least.... don't buy land on the side af a volcano. Most are active.

Good luck and keep your sense of humor.

 

[VickiLynn]

...

Our main aim through this is to build a house all by our bare hands and help the local communities learn about self sustainability. ...
Abz

I believe this is where we got that idea.

 

[fatguyslim]

Being young and optimistic is a good thing when setting out for an adventure! I should know, I moved to France on a whim, I lived in Ecuador for over 2 years as a young bride of an Ecuadorian. No longer married, but I am still part of a family there.

Skip the details, worry about money. If you want to do anything at all, you'll have to pay (bribe) the officials from national on down to local level. It may have changed a bit, but from what I understand the palanca sustem is still in place.

It's a beautiful country, you get all 4 seasons in one day. The fruits, vegetables and seafood are amazing, grains are mostly rice but some others are available. Potatoes are a staple.

Be prepared to take care of your own medical needs or health issues.

Be very respectful of the locals. There are still many who think very poorly of foreigners, but won't say it to your face. BUT.... be politely firm. Otherwise you will lose at bartering and negotiating!

Last, but not least.... don't buy land on the side af a volcano. Most are active.

Good luck and keep your sense of humor.

What made you leave Ecuador in the end? Was it the lifestyle or was it financial reasons?

 

[fatguyslim]

...

Our main aim through this is to build a house all by our bare hands and help the local communities learn about self sustainability. ...
Abz

I believe this is where we got that idea.

I wish I never wrote that now lol. Sorry guys

 

[Wannabefree]

What are you wanting to know? What are you doing here to live self sustainably? You know this isn't something that happens overnight, it is a long learning process...and the only way to suceed is a lot of tiny failures first. I don't know that I would jump in with both feet in a foreign country and try to "teach" anything I was not very sure of myself about in the first place. Inspiration only counts when coupled with knowledge and dedication.

"If I don't do this then vicious cycles of compulsive bad lifestyle stand before me."

THAT ^^^ sounds to me as if you are very young(nice way to say immature ) and not ready for what you are wanting to do. No offense intended, but I have to be honest with you, maybe you should try being SS where you are, then try to teach others.

This message was posted to get some help on how to go about finding a suitable place in Ecuador to start a Self Sufficient life but instead what I get in return is "I think this is not for you," "You are too young to do this," etc.

I understand that I am young and it may seem I haven't got enough experience in self sustainability but I forget to tell you that I come from India where greater part of my family lives in rural areas of Punjab where I have lived on barely minimal and yet be completely content by it. Since I have come to England I have been studying and working just to get by and it is impossible to self sustain when everything cost huge amount of money to start anything positive. I am a foreigner in this country as it is and through my experience and understand it is extremely hard and unrealistic at times to start a self sustainable life.

I spoke to the previous owner of "The Hexagon House" cambridgeshire, who built this massive house all by himself. He told me that he had to sell his house because he couldn't self sustain the family due to the fact that organic farming wasn't working or him, so instead he moved to Canada with his family and did the same and lives there with much ease in comparison.

I don't know why you would presume that I am only going there to teach self sustainability, I am going there to learn and stand on my own feet before I can even start doing anything else. I mentioned that teaching people about sustainability is our ultimate aim and never said it was going to be easy.

It's like I said before if I don't do this now I will keep hearing these same words, that you mentioned in this message, all my life. So please I request you if you are to post something then at least post some inspiration.

Peace,
Abz

No problem...I'll quit posting Juuuuuuust kidding. I SAID no offense in the first place :/ I did not say it wasn't for you, I'm just being realistic trying to help you see it MAY not be To me, that is inspirational, because it makes a person think twice, and those who think twice, make fewer mistakes than those who don't think at all

So you're from India, roughin it a bit won't be such a huge issue then...good. I do have friends in Ecuador and it is not easy living, but it's not horrible either. Where in Ecuador are you planning on looking for a place? I have friends near Quito. Beware the locals...foreigners have it a bit rough starting out. Be careful, lots will try to take advantage of you. You'll probably see some of that on your upcoming visit.

Just trying to throw a little realism in the mix NO OFFENSE INTENDED!

 

[FarmerChick]

We are ready to invest both our time and expenses to make this into reality but we need major guidance for you guys to help us achieve this enormous task.


Look forward to hearing from someone with a like minded mentality.

Thank you,
Abz

we sure know SS on this site like canning foodstuffs, hunting etc., growing a garden but I don't think many members have built an earthship.

I don't think major guidance is coming from this site for you :/

Google earthship construciton on the net, google Ecuador SS forum sites etc. You can find that on the net easily I would think...one thing the net has is people "actually" doing exactly what you want to do, in the exact country you want to do it in.

best of luck...sounds like one hell of a life adventure!

 

[chickenone]

What is an earthship?

 

[Wannabefree]

What is an earthship?

A home built with green materials, recycled tires, adobe, or whatever. Lots of different materials and designs, the idea is passive solar, and "green" building materials.

 

[Denim Deb]

And here I thought we were going to blast off to the earth. Wait a minute, we're already on the earth.

 

[fatguyslim]

I wasn't intending to make you feel bad wannabefree it's just that I have heard that many times and I certain that my mind is in the clouds at the moment, but this is how I inspire myself if I don't do it this way then doing it the REAL way would take me back to my old boring lifestyle (which you can see I am desperately trying to leave). I will keep that in mind about the locals as I am more use to that back home in India lol.

Thanks for your kind help guys but I think this forum is ot generating enough interest in what I want to achieve.

Love and Peace,
Abz